April 29th and 30th marked the return of Merriweather Post Pavillion’s annual ’80s hard rock and heavy metal party known as the M3 Rock Festival. Two days of all the classic hair metal bands who were not only the soundtrack to the Sunset Strip but also for east coast bars like Hammerjacks and the Bayou.

Kicking off the first day was a young lady named Gabbie Rae—who quite honestly stole the show. The highlight came midway through her set when she covered Dio’s “Last in Line.” Never have I heard anyone do Dio justice until now, and to put it mildly—jaw dropping. The night continued with Enuff Z’Nuff and 86 Bullets who were both a lot of fun.

Guitarist George Lynch and his band Lynch Mob slayed everyone with their technical precision and even managed to throw in a couple of Dokken songs to top off the night. Mötley Crüe may be done but Vince Neil still carries the torch and was backed up by Slaughter bassist Dana Strum, guitarist Mark Blando, and the high-flying mad man behind the drums Zoltan Cheney. (Tommy Lee has nothing on this guy.) Vince’s set consisted mainly of everyone’s Mötley favorites and he’s got great chemistry with the band on stage.

It’s not a M3 kick off party unless it’s a “Kix off party!” No one goes on after Baltimore’s Kix in this town. The already insane crowd went even crazier when the hometown boys hit the stage and nailed fan favorites “Girl Money,” “Cold Blood,” and the always entertaining “Yeah Yeah Yeah.”

And that was only the first day. There was still another full day of rock and roll madness to follow—Queensryche, Quiet Riot, Night Ranger, Tesla, Tom Keifer, Faster Pussycat. Check out the spectacle for yourself below.

Thanks to the folks at M3 for once again proving—for the eighth year in a row—rock ain’t dead.